


Impenetrable

by findmeinthevoid



Series: average density [2]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Gen, lila isn't a jerk, lilanette if you squint and turn your head to the side, more just a friend nonsense, she's actually quite nice, this could be considered part of or separate from the other one, this was fun to write, tumblr prompt fill, your choice
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-14
Updated: 2018-04-14
Packaged: 2019-04-22 20:52:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,812
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14316936
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/findmeinthevoid/pseuds/findmeinthevoid
Summary: Lila might not be the easiest to get along with. But at least she isn't ignorant.





	Impenetrable

**Author's Note:**

> yay, my first tumblr prompt!
> 
> first time writing these two like this, so.....idek.   
> constructive criticism is welcome and very much appreciated

Lila Rossi was a lot of things. Some of those things ended up working to her benefit; others, even she would admit, were in dire need of amendment.

But there was one thing that the teenage girl would be forever grateful she was  _ not _ , and that was oblivious.

When she imagined transferring to Paris for one school year, she had pictured a glamorous city, rich with culture and haute couture like that of her native Italy. What she had most certainly not considered was the constant, yet sporadic attacks on the city by flashy supervillains being mind-controlled by a mysterious entity referred to as a bow-no, a butterfly.  _ French, not Italian, _ she reminded herself.

She had definitely not expected to join their ranks on her first day in this foreign land.

But even the akumas were something she could wave off if she thought hard enough to come up with a half-plausible excuse. The one thing that really set off Lila’s nerves and had her frequently contemplating why she’d even come here in the first place, was how easily people around here seemed to fit the extraordinary and view it as simply another detail of today’s happenings.

Damn, these people were  _ dense. _

Well, that was a given. If they hadn’t been blind enough to accept the fact that their city was the battlefield of two teenaged superheroes fighting a cryptid without a second thought, this place would doubtlessly be in chaos by now. Perhaps it was, in its own skewed little way, an advantage that they were so blissfully ignorant. It made recovering from their own corruptions much easier, too.

But no, there was one person who, even by Parisian standards (she wasn’t even going to attempt to consider how no one else in Europe hadn’t found out about these occurrences by now), was just so very, hopelessly, exasperatingly ignorant beyond any limit of the lack of reasoning capacity, it was the same person who currently possessed the hearts of approximately 65% of the female population in France below the age of 20.

_ Remind me why I once almost considered myself part of that statistic? _

Well, a bit of a context might be necessary.

***

Lila’s first day of school ( _ that _ day does not count, nor will it ever in the account of Lila’s stay in Paris) was tragically unproductive, and it wasn’t because of the language barrier. She was notably capable in four languages, and French wasn’t even one of the more difficult ones. No, the reason the foreign exchange student’s mind could not remain focussed on the lesson being delivered at the front of the room was the injustice in the popularity rankings and criteria at this school.

Of course she wanted to make friends. It was natural for her to turn to the rather cliche methods of gaining favor with the student body, but she hadn’t realized what it really took to be someone admired by the people in this city. From what Lila could piece together by the end of the day, if you wanted to be popular, you either had to be blonde, rich, extraordinarily charming, or wear a scarlet spandex suit with black polka-dots. Why the hell was Ladybug so damn popular?!

The next few weeks passed by, and Lila could still not find an answer for what made the insect-themed heroine so favorable, despite the fact that she had a temper of about 0.2 millimeters and tolerance for anyone who wasn’t male, blond, green-eyed, and oblivious. Okay, that may have been just a tad biased.

Despite how regularly the supervillain attacks had become an integration in everyday life for them, forums buzzed and conversations bubbled about how Ladybug had heroically saved the city yet again, and a great deal of gushing about her persona per se. The brunette did not engage in these conversations for the sake of her own dignity and out of respect for their opinions. However, this also left her largely friendless.

It also didn’t help that, for the longest time, the Italian girl had concealed herself behind a solid facade of deception. It was hard work keeping track of every white lie and slip of the tongue, but it was half-effective. At least that way her true feelings wouldn’t be left vulnerable.

That was March and now it was April.

Lila didn’t want to generalize her hate towards female vigilantes, but she’d be lying if she said she wasn’t at least a little bit salty about Rena Rouge.

The next day at school, she found herself on the verge of finally breaking. Her cheeks burned and she could feel the tears forming in her eyes as she ate, alone in an isolated corner of the school.

“Hi Lila, how’s it going?”

Lila looked up slowly to see a cheery smile of actual sunshine framed by dark blue pigtails.

“Marinette? What are you doing here? Don’t you usually eat lunch with your friends?”

“Well, yeah, but I noticed that you usually sit here by yourself. Mind if I join you?” she asked.

“I, uh, sure? Just wondering, but...why?”

“I haven’t really gotten to know you since you first came,” Marinette explained. “You mostly kept to yourself, so I never learned much about you.”

“I dunno, there really isn’t much to know,” she admitted. “I came as a transfer from Italy, got akumatized on my first day, and, well, here I am.”

“That must have been awful,” the bluenette sympathized.

Lila shrugged, and Marinette sat down beside her.

“There must be something else, though,” she started again. “Everyone has something special about them. What about you?”

“Well, I, uh, I like photography, I guess...” Lila answered. “I wanted to take some shots of the Eiffel Tower when I got here, but that’s probably not happening now...”

“Why not?” Marinette questioned.

“Well, um, while I was akumatized I somehow ended up on the very top, and uh, let’s just say that it’s going to be a little while before I go near there again.”

“Bad memories, huh?”

“The worst,” Lila muttered.

“Well, I mean, I’m always here to talk if there’s anything bothering you,” Marinette offered.

“Thanks, but I think I’m good for the time being.”

“Suit yourself,” she shrugged. “But just know that I’ll be free in the park later today. There are some great scenes there after school. Awesome source of inspiration.”

“Thanks, I might check it out,” Lila said.

“Great,” Marinette smiled. “See you around!”

She waved and skipped off to wherever she had to go as if she hadn’t a care in the world, and Lila felt...lighter...somehow.

Finally, one person who wasn’t repelled by her very presence.

But that facade wasn’t coming down anytime soon.

***

It turned out that the park was the perfect place to take photos.

Lila ended up spending rather a lot of time there. Of course that had nothing to do with the fact that Marinette was also frequently found on a bench or against a tree, sketching designs inspired by the life of the park’s visitors.

Sooner or later, the two had grown close enough, or perhaps simply coincidentally found themselves in the same place at the same time on several different occasions, that they could appropriately refer to their interaction as ‘friendship’.

It’s funny how awkward that term was to use for the very first time. As sappy as it sounds, there is a special sentiment associated with that word, especially when using it in its truest and most genuine form. Words are misused a lot. If we just kept words to their true definitions without secondary implications and used them where their significance is justified, it would be so much easier to communicate and interact without having to worry about accidentally suggesting something completely different or whether or not the message was genuine.

Nowadays it isn’t reasonable to expect people to mean what they say, almost always. Harmless words become euphemisms while vulgar terms are used affectionately, ironic as it is. Words casually being thrown around so their initial, deep significance becomes shallow with misuse. At some point, though, everyone who has ever used words does recognize and acknowledge that there is a limit to how far a term can be taken out of context and skewed to a certain situation.

Somebody ought to teach that to Adrien Agreste.

Make that Adrien  _ ‘just-a-friend’ _ Agreste.

Because really, there has to be some thick border for those-who-have-already-crossed-the-line-twice to being dense, right?

There must be, because if there isn’t one somewhere out there by the PTB, Lila is taking the first flight back to Venice to show Marinette what real love looks like and why she should not be wasting her time with this wealthy, finely-cultured  _ twit _ when there are  _ observant _ men out there who would waste no time in granting her expulsion from the friendzone.

Or maybe she’d take Adrien to show him what being aware of one’s surroundings means.

Heck, just take both of them, throw them on a gondola and bid them  _ Adieu _ .

Anything to stop this unjust cruelty that is causing Marinette’s pure heart to ache with pining.

Lila could think of a very long list of middle names for Adrien that would be incredibly fitting in his present state. She was mostly certain that Gabriel Agreste would ban her from his estate if she ever dared mention them in front of him. But if Adrien ever, someday, did find a guardian or two who valued his being, she did have a list of suggestions.

Anyways, internal thoughts aside, Lila’s sanity was on the line.

“Lila, you’re crushing your camera.” Marinette’s voice jerked her back to reality. She looked down, and, sure enough, she was gripping the body so hard that tiny cracks were already forming. She quickly loosened her hold.

Marinette sighed.

“It’s okay, you don’t have to make this so important to you. He’s just never going to see me as anything more than a friend, I guess.” She smiled ruefully.

Lila glared.

“It’s not my fault that the person who has your heart also happens to be the dumbest person on the freaking planet, but I’ll be damned if I let him treat you like this especially when you don’t feel the same way,” she informed the bluenette with finality.

“Really? You’d actually do that, for me?” Marinette asked, surprised.

Lila rolled her eyes.

“You were the first person to come up to me after I was akumatized. Everyone else acted like I didn’t even exist.”

For once, she didn’t feel the need to hold up the front any longer. 

“So yeah, I care a lot if you’re happy or not because I know you’d do the same,” she finished.

“I, wow, thanks. I really appreciate it...” Marinette trailed off, taken aback.

“Anytime,” the brunette assured her.

Maybe some walls were meant to be taken down.

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading
> 
> hmu @writing-from-the-void on tumblr


End file.
